1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an on-board navigation apparatus which displays a map necessary for the run of the vehicle by a display.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is an on-board navigation apparatus in which map data including road data which is obtained by converting each point on the roads of a map into numerical values is stored in a memory medium such as a CD-ROM or the like. A group of map data of a district of a predetermined range including the present location is read out from the memory medium while recognizing the present location of the vehicle and is displayed on a display as a map around the present location of the vehicle, and the self vehicle position indicative of the present location of the vehicle is automatically displayed on the map. Such an on-board navigation apparatus has been disclosed in, for instance, Japanese Provisional Patent Publication No. 63-12096 and has already been well known.
Such an on-board navigation apparatus has not only the function to display the map around the present location of the vehicle but also the user registering function such that the existing positions which are necessary for each user among service amenities such as restaurants, hotels, and the like existing in the district shown in the map are displayed as patterns on the map. According to the user registering function, a desired position is designated as a user position on the map by the key operation of the user. The longitude data and latitude data of the designated user position are obtained from the map data. The display pattern of such a position is selected by the user. The longitude and latitude data and the display pattern data are stored in a memory. When the map is displayed on the display screen, the longitude and latitude data and display pattern data existing in the range of the map are read out from the memory. The display pattern indicative of the restaurant or the like is displayed at the position indicated by the longitude and latitude data.
In the conventional on-board navigation apparatus, however, in order to use the user registering function, the user activates the service mode and selects necessary one of the service facilities which are displayed on the display screen in the service mode and memorizes the position of the necessary service facility on the map. After completion of the service mode, the user can register such a position only by searching and designating the position from the navigation map. Very complicated operations, consequently, are needed for such a registration.